Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1887-07-26
A FORTUNE FOUND.
Hidden Wea til from Cali
fornia's Early Days.
Thousands Concealed in a Chimney
---Placed there by an Erra,ic and
Misery Woman.

SACRAMENTO. Cal. July 25. The
neighborbood of White Rock Springs, Ell
Dorado county, is excited over the dis
.covsry of a fortune hidden in d chimney
by a misery old woman Of that place.
The discovery forms the last chapter in a
curious tale of the vissitudes of fortune
on this coast.
Mrs. Dare early in the Sos lived in FL
Dorado county, n had a pretty daughter
named Lou, a girl of is. The mother
was we'll off, and when her daughter fell
in love with a saloon keeper, Austin
Keely, she violently objected to the
match. The lovers were married, how
ever, and moved to San Francisco, where
Kelly made a lucky strike in mining
stocks, clearing up over 500, 900. He
was not satisfied, but wanted to be a mil
l~ionaire, and in the effort lost every cent.
Thel he fell to drinking, liquor made him
demented, and he was finally sent to the
insane asylum. His wife went to live
| with her mother in her FL Dorado home.
After a few months Keely was dis
Enlarged cured and he went to live with
his mother-in-law She detested him,
and made it so unpleasant that his insan-
Il Ivy lcbuTItu, huo OuO udS III d III VI rage
he choked her to death. There was great
popular excitement over the crime, but
when the trial came Kelly was acquitted
on the ground of insanity. The excite
ment of the trial, however, reduced Kelly
almost to imbicility, Int it was found
he could not even manage the farm that
old Mrs. Dart left to her daughter.
Though search had been made of the
premises for hidden treasure, as it was
| known the old woman had saved much
money, nothing was found.
Mrs. Keely then moved to Sacramento
and rented the farm, bue the tenants so
neglected the place that a few weeks q
! she determined to move out to it. She
borrowed some money to repair the build
ing and make it inhabitabIe. To do this
it was necessary to tear down the Chin
ney attached to the house. AL hopes of
finding the fortune, which every body
was sure had been left by the old lady,
had been abandoned, when the fall of the
chimney revealed a strong box contain
ing $4,000 in gold coin. Thus for the
second time in life Mrs. Keely found her
self in comparative luxury. ~Thesurprise
was the more agreeable, aimee with the
welcome acquisition will come relief from
the poverty which for years has been her
lou. L ~ SusUiu uSluIy ItldilS SENSE
enough to appreciate this good fortune.
Everybody about White Rock Springs re-
\ joices in the good luck of plucky Mrs.
Keely.
1t is related as a prelude to this strange
story that the old Mrs. Dart, in whose
g getting skill and misery proclivi-
ties the Keelys owe their release from
poverty, had a romantic career herself.
She married a fine looking man of appar-
emit means in New Orleans, but her mari
tai happiness was of short duration, for
She soon discovered that her husband was
a professional gambler, and she aband-
oned him. She came to California, and
placed little Lou in a New Orleans con-
vent. Mrs. Dart located at White Rock
Springs, and lived and died there. Her
husband, likewise, followed fortune with
the setting sun, but, although he lived
in Sacramento for many years, he never
spoke again to his wife. His name was
Henry Dart.